Local Plan Review Emerging Strategy Consultation Report
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Stroud District Local Plan Review Emerging Strategy Consultation Report May 2019 Development Services Stroud District Council Ebley Mill Stroud Gloucestershire GL5 4UB The Planning Strategy Team 01453 754143 [email protected] visit www.stroud.gov.uk/localplanreview Contents 1. Emerging Strategy Consultation Introduction 4 Consultation document 4 Making representations 5 Publicity 6 Notification 6 Public engagement 6 • Public exhibitions 6 • Town and Parish Council workshop 7 • Stakeholder meetings 8 • Other groups 9 2. Overview of the responses Level of response 10 Method of response 11 3. What people told us Key issues 13 Local economy and jobs 15 Our town centres 16 A local need for housing 18 Local green spaces and community facilities 20 A vision for the future 22 Strategic Objectives 24 The Emerging Growth Strategy 25 Settlement hierarchy 29 Settlement development limits 33 Mini vision and priorities 35 Potential sites and alternatives 37 41 4. What’s next? STROUD DISTRICT LOCAL PLAN REVIEW | REPORT OF CONSULTATION Page | 2 Figures 1 Type of response 2 The cluster online respondents felt they identified most with 3 Level of support for the Top 5 issues 4 Level of support for ways of tackling Top 5 issues 5 Level of support for the Emerging Strategy’s approach to supporting the local economy and the creation of jobs 6 Level of support for the Emerging Strategy’s approach to supporting town centres 7 Level of support for Emerging Strategy’s approach to housing needs and opportunities 8 Level of support for Emerging Strategy’s approach to local green spaces 9 Level of support for the vision for 2040 10 Level of support for Strategic Objectives 11 Level of support for broad approach of the Emerging Growth Strategy 12 Level of support for identification of towns and villages for growth 13 Level of support for Emerging Strategy’s approach to meeting Gloucester’s needs 14 Are any settlement in the wrong tier? 15 Level of support for approach to managing development in Tiers 4 and 5 16 Level of support managing the cumulative impact of growth on settlements 17 Level of support for Emerging Strategy’s approach to managing settlement development limits 18 Level of support for proposals to allow some limited development beyond settlement development limits 19 Level of support for specific changes to existing settlement development limits 20 Level of support for the 8 cluster mini visions 21 Level of support for identified key issues and priorities for action Tables 1 List of public exhibitions 2 Method of response 3 Level of support for growth at identified sites 4 No. of respondents who disagree identified settlements have growth potential 5 Identified settlements with growth potential 6 Level of support for growth at identified sites 7 New sites submitted through the Emerging Strategy consultation 8 Local Plan Review timetable STROUD DISTRICT LOCAL PLAN REVIEW | REPORT OF CONSULTATION Page | 3 1. Emerging Strategy Consultation Introduction 1.1 The Stroud District Local Plan identifies the housing, employment, retail and community development that is required to meet local needs up until 2031. It sets out the strategy for distributing development within the District and policies for protecting and conserving the natural and built environment. 1.2 The Council started the process of reviewing the current Local Plan in 2017 with an Issues and Options consultation stage. The Issues and Options Paper posed a series of questions to help focus consultation feedback across a range of topics: • Key issues - What are the top issues, challenges and concerns facing the District? • Needs – How should we plan to meet local needs for jobs, town centres, housing, green spaces and community facilities? • Future growth strategy – How and where should development be distributed across the District? • Evidence and information – What additional studies will be required to inform the Local Plan Review? 1.3 A report of the main findings from the Issues and Options consultation is available to view at: https://www.stroud.gov.uk/media/640532/local-plan-review-issues-and-option-consultation- report.pdf Consultation document 1.4 The comments helped to inform an Emerging Strategy paper which was published in November 2018. The document sets out the Council’s Emerging strategy for meeting development needs over the next 20 years but also highlights other options. It focuses on: • Key issues – Have we identified top 5 issues for you? Do you agree with ways we intend to tackle them? • Needs – Do you agree with the ways in which the Emerging Strategy intends to support the local economy and the creation of jobs, the District’s town centres, meet local housing need, protect existing or deliver new local green spaces/community facilities? STROUD DISTRICT LOCAL PLAN REVIEW | REPORT OF CONSULTATION Page | 4 • Future growth strategy – Do you support the broad approach of the emerging growth strategy? Have we identified the right towns and villages for growth? Do you support our approach to addressing Gloucester’s needs? • Evidence and information – What additional studies will be required to inform the Local Plan Review? 1.5 The paper was made available in hard copy to view at the 25 deposit point locations throughout the District, including Stroud District Council offices at Ebley Mill, town and parish council offices open to the public, public libraries, and the Tourist Information Centre (TIC) in Stroud. 1.6 The paper was published on the Council’s website, www.stroud.gov.uk/Stroud District Local Plan review along with links to a range of background information and relevant online resources. 1.7 The public consultation on the Emerging Strategy took place over a period of ten weeks from 16 th November 2018 until 18 th January 2019. Making representations 1.8 Feedback to the Emerging Strategy paper was invited in a range of formats: • An interactive online survey replicating the questions posed in the discussion paper • By email • By letter • An online call for sites: site submission form STROUD DISTRICT LOCAL PLAN REVIEW | REPORT OF CONSULTATION Page | 5 Publicity 1.9 The ten week consultation was advertis ed in the local press in November 2017 and was also the subject of additional media coverage online and in print. 1.10 Posters and leaflets were sent to all town and parish councils, deposit point libraries and the TIC in Stroud to give local publicity to the consultation and associated public exhibitions. Notification 1.11 An e mail notification was sent to all statutory consultees, together with interest groups, local organisations, businesses, land agents, developers and local residents listed on the Planning Strategy consultation database, who had expressed a desire to be ke pt informed of the Local Plan process. Public engagement 1.12 In line with the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement (SCI), a wide variety of methods were used to promote the consultation and engage with interested parties: Public exhibitions 1.13 Twelve public exhibitions were held around the District during November and early December 2018, the first half of the 10 week consultation period. They were located in town and parish offices or community halls and were held on weekdays (during the day and early evenings) or Saturday mornings to enable people who work full time to attend. The exhibitions were designed for people to drop-in and read more about the Local Plan Review process, talk to officers and also to informally feed-back their views. Table 1 below lists the date, time and location of the 12 public exhibitions. STROUD DISTRICT LOCA L PLAN REVIEW | REPORT OF CONSULTATION Page | 6 Date Time Venue No. of people Thursday 13/11/18 14:30 – 18:30 Stonehouse Town Hall 60 Saturday 24/11/18 10:30 – 13:30 Stroud Sub Rooms 64 Monday 26/11/2018 14:30 – 18:30 Kingswood Village Hall 34 Wednesday 28/11/18 14:30 – 18:30 Painswick Town Hall 55 Saturday 01/12/18 10:30 – 13:30 Sharpness Village Hall 119 Monday 03/12/2018 14.30 – 18.30 Slimbridge Village Hall 87 Wednesday 05/12/18 14:30 – 18:30 Nailsworth Library 22 Saturday 08/12/18 10:30 – 13:30 Cam Parish Council Office 88 Tuesday 11/12/18 14:30 – 18:30 Dursley Methodist Church 60 Wednesday 12/12/18 14:30 – 18:00 Minchinhampton Youth Club 65 Monday 17/12/18 13:30 – 17:30 Wotton Town Hall 21 Tuesday 18/12/18 14:30 – 18:30 Hardwicke Village Hall 31 Total 706 Table 1: List of public exhibitions 1.14 Printed panels were set up at each exhibition, detailing key issues, local needs, the Emerging Growth Strategy and potential sites. These were interspersed with interactive activities where people could leave comments on post-it notes. Each venue had a large printed map of the District, for people to use coloured counters, representing different quantities of housing, to formulate their own development strategy. There was a ballot box stationed at each venue for people to anonymously submit a copy of their preferred strategy. 1.15 The exhibition was also on display at Cam Parish Council Offices, in January 2019, at the request of Cam Parish Council providing further opportunity for feedback. Town and Parish Council workshop 1.16 All Town and Parish Councils within the Stroud District were invited to attend an afternoon workshop organised by the District Council’s Planning Strategy Team. The event took place on 8 January 2019 and representatives from 29 Town and Parish Councils attended. 1.17 With eight tables, each with representatives from a range of parish clusters around the District, the first part of the workshop focused on identifying the location for 6,000 new dwellings and discussing and developing a strategy for distribution of the housing.